


Vision & Spectre

by Emma_Trevelyan



Series: The Shepard Twins [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, Action, Canon Divergent, Drama, F/M, Multiple Relationships, Multiple Shepards, Multiple romances - Freeform, Rating May Change, Romance, Science Fiction, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-04-29 02:43:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5113244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_Trevelyan/pseuds/Emma_Trevelyan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only think Alexandra and Lucas Shepard have in common is their birthday. After an ill-fated Shakedown run on the newest ship in the Alliance Navy, the twins are thrown into a centuries-old conspiracy that could shake the fabric of the galaxy to its core. Alexandra Shepard becomes the first human Spectre, while Lucas is, once again, left in the dust. </p><p>A Mass Effect A/U involving a Male Renegade Shepard and a Female Paragon Shepard. Canon divergent. Rating may change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The only thing Alexandra and Lucas Shepard had in common was their birthday. Despite being twins, they were remarkably… divergent. While they shared the lily-white skin, the straight blue-black hair, and the silvery grey eyes fringed with dark, thick lashes, the similarities ended there.

Both were born to Hannah and Joseph Shepard aboard the SSV Einstein. Both spent the majority of their childhoods in space surrounded by the Alliance. Both enlisted in the Alliance when they turned 18. Alexandra, a young Biotic specialist, turned out to be one of those hero-types. When she was only 22, she was a key player in the Skyllian Blitz. She was awarded the Star of Terra, one of the youngest soldiers to ever receive the honor, and rapidly rose through the ranks. She was the Alliance’s most treasured young Star— _the_ Commander Shepard.

Lucas, on the other hand, was just as famous as his twin sister. It was for completely different reasons. After the attack on Elysium, the Alliance retaliated. Lucas rarely spoke of that time (his sister was spared the horror) and he became the infamous Butcher of Torfan. Despite his biotic abilities, Luke was more comfortable with a rifle or shotgun than his implants. He was also an expert driver, though no one really talked about that. He followed orders (to the letter, if not the spirit) but his attitude rubbed just about everyone he met the wrong way. Including, unfortunately for his military career, Alliance Brass. While his sister got the rank of Commander to go with their mutual N7 honor, he was stuck a little further down the chain. He didn’t mind—the fewer people he had to deal with, the better.

It was during his time serving on a small frigate when he got his new orders at the behest of one Captain Anderson—he would be transferring to an experimental, top of the line ship—the SSV Normandy—ostensibly for his technical expertise, just in time for a shakedown run to Eden Prime. He growled to himself. Only one person would get his ass transferred to  an experimental ship.

Alexandra was summoning her brother.


	2. Alexandra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts on Eden Prime. Alexandra Shepard tries to retrieve a Prothean beacon and attempts to not punch Luke in the face with every half-breath. But of course it goes wrong. Why wouldn't it?

Eden Prime. A little Podunk agricultural colony on the border of the Terminus Systems. Alexandra Shepard, the brand new XO of the even newer SSV _Normandy,_ was on the ground team marked for Eden Prime. With her; a Lieutenant named Alenko and unfortunately, her twin brother, 2nd Lieutenant Lucas Shepard.

Ahead of them, advancing as a scout, was Nihlus Kryik, a Turian Spectre for the Council. While it wasn’t in her nature to question—she didn’t make Commander at 28 by making a habit of questioning her SOs—Alex did have to wonder why a shakedown run needed two N7s, a powerful Biotic, and a Council Spectre. While Alex was grateful for the over-kill of the team once the feed from Eden Prime came in, the Prothean beacon was a cause for… concern.

“Commander,” Luke snapped. Somehow, she could just _feel_ the sarcasm dripping off the title.

“What is it?” she returned, pulling out her standard-issue pistol.

“We should probably push forward,” Luke suggested, indicating vaguely with his shotgun. “Spectre Kryik is probably already in position.”

“Right,” Alex took a deep breath, feeling the tingle of her biotics right under her skin. “Let’s move. _Carefully._ You didn’t see that distress call.”

Alex lowered to a near crouch, her weapon at the ready. She had a bad feeling—that distress call prepared her for a warzone. The blurry shapes had _looked_ like the Geth—weird synthetics from beyond the Perseus Veil she’d only heard horror stories about—but she prayed and prayed that wasn’t the case. Despite the sky being an awful shade of red, and the distant pops of gunfire, all around her it was quiet. Eden Prime may not have been the most populated colony, but she didn’t expect this vast, empty expanse. Were all the colonists dead?

She took a deep breath, leading her team along the beaten path. She may have been in a hurry, but she didn’t want to charge off like an idiot—especially with the unknown quantity that was the Spectre. She hated that Nihlus had gone off on his own; the damn Turian was going to get himself and her whole team killed. She could feel it in her gut.

She set up behind a rock formation, peering around the corner and scanning for movement. She threw up her fist, effectively halting Luke and Alenko. She squinted hard; she couldn’t shake that cold feeling at the base of her spine. She felt like she was being watched. She hated that feeling.

_I think you picked the wrong career path if you hate feeling watched._

She shook her head violently, tossing her short black bob out of her eyes. She heard a deep sigh behind her—Luke was getting impatient. She gritted her teeth but maintained her professional demeanor, despite wanting to sock him one like when they were kids. She couldn’t believe Anderson put him under her Command. Despite what she _knew_ Luke thought, she hadn’t asked for him to join them. Too much drama there, really. But she knew Anderson, and she knew her mother, and she could put two and two together.

With a jerk of her hand, the boys took cover to flank the path. Luke decided to take the center, running straight up the path instead of taking cover.

It was a huge mistake.

“Luke!” she exclaimed, watching the scene unfold in terrible detail. Two recon drones crested the hill and immediately began peppering her brother with bullets. She could vividly see them ripping through his shields as he fell to the ground riddled with holes.

She really shouldn’t have underestimated him; with a quick gesture, she saw the shimmer of a biotic barrier before he turned his shotgun on the drones. With a quick, deafening shot, one of the drones exploded into a flurry of burned parts. He cocked the slide back before jumping into cover to let his shields recover.

Alex took the opportunity to spring into action. With an athletic roll, she stood side-by-side with Alenko, and almost like they’d done it a million times, they threw a biotic toss at the drone. The overwhelming force tore the thing into tiny pieces. She quirked her brow at the lieutenant, and he returned with an easy smile.

“Nice work, Alenko,” she quipped. “Almost like we rehearsed it.”

“Just doing what I do, ma’am,” he replied with a grin.

“Oh please don’t call me ma’am,” she laughed. “It makes me feel old.”

She saw Luke rise from behind cover. She gave him a quick once-over for blood or holes or anything else that may have indicated he was in less than perfect condition. Seeing him unmarred caused all her good cheer to turn to ice in the space of a heartbeat. She stormed up to him and shoved against his chest.

“What in the actual _hell_ were you thinking?” she growled, narrowing her grey eyes at him.

“My job, _Commander,”_ he shot back with an ugly twist of his mouth.

“Well, _2 nd Lieutenant, _this is my run, and you follow orders!” Alex was trying to keep a lid on her anger, but Luke’s careless smirk was getting on her last nerve. “And when I say find cover, I mean _find cover._ What if you couldn’t get that barrier up in time? You’d have been dead!”

“Well, I did,” Luke returned with a huff. “And I’m not. So if you don’t mind, we should probably continue, Alex.”

He intentionally used her name to piss her off. She knew it. While their similarities could not be ignored, she tried to avoid all familiarity when she worked with her family.

_Pitfalls of carrying on the family tradition. Don’t see why he felt the need to, though._

She shook herself bodily, pushing her irritation to the back of her mind. She needed to focus—she was being observed, after all.

“I hate to interrupt, Shepard,” Alex heard over her radio. Nihlus was breaking radio silence. “But I wanted to let you know I’m seeing a _lot_ of burned out buildings.”

“Casualties?” Alex asked sharply, turning from her ground team.

“A lot of bodies,” Nihlus answered. There was a raw edge to his voice; she certainly hadn’t expected it from the Spectre. “I’m going to scout ahead.”

“Roger,” she hefted her pistol, pulling back the slide. “We’re right behind you.”

Luke was smirking at her; “Well?”

“Zip it, Luke,” she grumbled, cracking her neck. The sharp pop focused her, and with a deep breath she had it under control.

_As much as I want to punch him…_

There didn’t seem to be much in the way of life—there were no drones or soldiers; hell there weren’t even any colonists. A pile of burned out corpses made her stomach roll; Luke seemed unfazed. Of course the Butcher of Torfan would be unfazed by a few civilian casualties. She couldn’t shake the feeling he wasn’t telling her something.

A flash of movement in the valley caught her eye; a woman in bright pink-and-white Phoenix armor was darting across the grass, running pell-mell for cover. She clutched a standard-issue assault rifle like it was her lifeline. Most likely it was. Alex’s eyes flickered back and forth between the Alliance marine and what she was clearly running from. A pair of drones were in hot pursuit and a small cluster of Geth were gathered by one of the rocky outcroppings that surrounded the habitable areas of the colony. Even from up on the hill, she could hear their click-chatter… what were they doing?

They were intent on something; the marine ducked out from behind cover and took out the two drones with an ease a seasoned soldier would be proud of. Alex quirked her brow, feeling her biotics creep along her skin, as she approached for a better look. Luke was mumbling impatiently behind her, and she suppressed the urge to smack him—she didn’t have the ability to create a powerful barrier. She didn’t have the close-combat experience that led him to his choice of biotic class. And she would not charge in like a bull; she did was she was best at. Quick and quiet.

It was sudden. A horrible, brief sound of metal-on-metal and the unmistakable sound of bones crunching and organs being punctured… Alex wanted to be sick. She felt Alenko visibly flinch and Luke drew in an audible breath. The Alliance marine definitely saw if her greenish pallor was anything to be believed. A colonist was impaled through the chest on a stories-high spike. The little blood left in his body and not spattered on the ground oozed down the spike holding him aloft.

Alex turned to Luke and nodded; he was resolved. He blasted out from behind cover, his barrier once again shimmering over his armor, and the Geth’s bullets flickered over his shields. Alex steeled herself, summoning a biotic singularity—her specialty—at the point where the Geth converged. Luke was able to pick them off easily once they were aloft. Alex scrambled down the incline, reaching the frozen woman in her cover.

_Oh God, she’s in shock._

“Hey, hey,” Alex said gently, putting a firm hand on the woman’s upper arm. Her caramel eyes were fear-blown and dark. “It’s alright. I’m Commander Shepard.”

“Shepard,” her voice was shaking. “I’ve heard of you. Um, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212, ma’am.”

“That was some sharp shooting for a Chief,” Alex pulled Ashley up by her forearms. Her knees weren’t shaking, so that was a good sign. “Where’s the rest of your squad?”

Ashley pressed her lips together; “Gone, ma’am. We were patrolling the perimeter; when they cut off communications, we tried to fall back to the beacon, and…”

“So you just abandoned your squad?” Luke cut in, gripping his shotgun. Alex could have shot him in that moment.

_The last thing she needs is an interrogation._

“I’ve been fighting for my life ever since they cut communications, sir,” Ashley replied sharply. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Luke. “I stayed as long as I could.”

“Ah, forgive him. He doesn’t play well with others,” Alex rolled her eyes and tried for a reassuring smile. It came out a bit more strained than she would have liked. “This is 2nd Lieutenant Shepard, and the man to my right here is Lieutenant Alenko.”

“Shepard?” Ashley’s eyes flickered between Alex and her brother. Oh yes, there was a story. Alex just didn’t want to tell it. “I… I think they’re Geth. I know I sound crazy—”

“The Geth haven’t been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years,” Alenko suddenly piped up. He’d been quiet most of the mission—most likely uncomfortable with the bickering siblings. His tone wasn’t accusatory, but inquisitive. “What are they doing here now?”

“I feared they were Geth,” Alex answered around the lump in her throat.

“I think they’re after the beacon,” Ashley offered. “The dig site is just over that rise.”

“Then we’re wasting time,” Luke said, making his way towards the dig site.

“Luke!” Alex exclaimed. She rushed up to walk beside him; she heard Alenko and Ashley fall in step behind her. “Luke, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” Luke rounded on her, keeping vigilant for Geth. “What’s up with you? You’re being observed for acceptance into the Spectres, and you’re coddling a marine who didn’t have the balls to stand with her squad?”

“Hey!” Alex grabbed his arm, jerking him to face her. “No title, be it Commander or N7 or Spectre is worth sacrificing our own! She held out, and now she can help. You don’t need to be an ass, Luke.”

“Doesn’t matter, Alex,” Luke turned back towards the dig site.

“Why?”

“The beacon isn’t here,” he tipped his chin forward.

He was right. The beacon wasn’t there.

“It must have been moved,” Alex growled.

“By our side?” Alenko asked, eyes scanning the area. “Or the Geth?”

Alex nodded sharply; she raised Nihlus on the radio; “Nihlus. The beacon is MIA. Was it here when you passed through?”

“No,” he said shortly. “Watch yourself, Commander. Something stinks.”

“This is turning into a bit of a SNAFU,” Alex muttered under her breath. Luke snorted and rolled his eyes. “Alright. We proceed; chance it’s at the research camp. Move out.”

The four of them moved and a significantly higher clip than before; Alex hated throwing caution out like this, but it was for the best. The Geth were on Eden Prime; the beacon was missing; and an entire Alliance squad was taken out. She sighed heavily; this was turning into the longest fucking day.

She glanced at her squad—Alenko was quiet and controlled, and she figured she should get his first name if they were going to die here. Ashley was still in shock, but her rifle was steady. Luke was being his charming self, so no help there. She wondered again why Anderson had saddled her with him… he was reckless and didn’t take orders well. She had no idea how a man like that could have passed N7 training.

They hiked over a rise. Alex was getting worried—they hadn’t run into _anyone._ It was like the colony was deserted. A shard of ice lodged itself into her spine—it was starting to remind her of the night before the Blitz. Elysium had come down with this lovely brand of eerie quiet right before the Batarians attacked. And that’s what she sensed now.

Her radio beeped in her helmet, but there wasn’t anything but Nihlus’s heavy breathing; she quirked her brow… “Nihlus?”

Nothing. She gave herself a shake; it didn’t seem much like a revered Spectre to carelessly leave a radio frequency open. He must have a reason.

“Oh my God,” Alenko’s voice was rough and tight.

Alex froze in her steps, and now she knew she would be sick. She saw the same tall metal spikes that had impaled the only colonist they’d found so far. There were a solid dozen or so; atop was what looked like a human body, but they were… off. Glowing, blue cybernetics ran up and down their limbs and crossed their bare chests. Their exposed skin was grey and bloodless; the sounds coming from them were feral gurgles as they shambled towards the party.

“Fantastic. Robot zombies,” Luke roared. “I did _not_ sign up for Robot Zombies!”

“Not now, Luke!” Alex shouted back, whipping out her pistol. She put three shots into one before it collapsed and immediately started to decompose.

_Yep. Definitely going to be sick._

There were a solid 10 or 12 of them. Maybe more. Ashley and Luke were doing well, working in tandem to bring them down with their heavier weapons. Alex and the Lieutenant only had pistols and their biotics. Alenko shimmered with energy before tossing a pair back; they slammed wetly on the rocks. Alex tried to ignore the stream of blood coming out his nose while her own biotics reacted with his. The singularity that pulled the husks inward and up felt more powerful, and the buzzing in her implant was less painful than usual when she expended this much energy.

_I should look into that._

She heard one of them roar; it had broken from the main group and was barreling towards Alenko.

“Get down!” Alex shouted, and without thinking, pulled the man behind her. As the thing approached, a burst of energy flowed from it and crackled over her shields. She felt the shock in her implants—like she’d been struck by lightning-- and suddenly, her mouth tasted like she’d licked a 9-volt battery. She hissed in pain. “Fuck. Don’t let them do that!”

A quick blast and the thing exploded into a cloud of viscera. Just as Alex was vowing she would burn this armor as soon as they were back on the Normandy, she felt a firm hand grasp her upper arm. Luke spun her to him, his eyes wide and fearful.

“Alex!” he practically choked on her name. He searched her eyes, scanning her as she had earlier for him. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine, Luke,” she answered softly, patting his hand lightly. “See, not a scratch. Hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, though.”

He snorted; “Such language, Commander.”

Luke reluctantly let go of her arm so him and the Chief could examine what remained of the husks. Alex turned to the Lieutenant.

“You OK?” she asked with a grin.

“I’m fine, Commander,” he said. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Hey, we’re a team, Alenko!” she playfully nudged his shoulder. “I have your back, I know you have mine, right?”

“I guess so,” he let out a short laugh. “And you can call me Kaidan.”

“Kaidan?”

“My name,” he continued. “You saved my life; figured you earned my first name, at least.”

“Well then, Kaidan, call me Alex.”

“That’s not appropriate, ma’am.”

“Sure it is,” Alex hip-checked the Lieutenant with a grin. Anything to distract her from… _this._

“Alright then, Alex.”

She had to stop for a minute. Just fucking _stop_ and savor the way he just said her name, because she’d never heard it sound like that before. She’d heard it cried in lust and shouted in desperation and screamed in anger, but never with that soft, husky baritone. Her smile fell, and suddenly her and the Lieutenant were making eye contact; heat curled in her stomach as she suddenly became _very_ aware of his lips parting lightly.

“ _Saren?”_

She heard it in her helmet… it was Nihlus. She held up a finger when Kaidan glanced at her in askance. Was this why he left the radio frequency open? Or was this an accident? She couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation—it was too muffled—but she recognized the deep sub-vocals of another Turian. Saren sounded Turian.

“ _This isn’t your mission. What are you doing here?”_

Another muffled reply—so it was someone Nihlus knew. She strained to hear the other voice; her teammates were silent.

“ _I wasn’t expecting to find the Geth here; this is bad, Saren.”_

There was genuine fear in Nihlus’s voice, which caused a coil of panic to wring through her shot nerves. The Spectre had been so cool and controlled since they’d all boarded the Normandy together. If Nihlus was worried, she should be terrified.

The muffled voice again, and then the loud _bang_ of a gunshot. Alex jumped; horror set in. Nihlus knew whoever that was. He’d been betrayed, most likely shot.

“Nihlus!” she exclaimed, whipping out her omni-tool. “Nihlus! If you can hear me, say something. _Anything!”_

She input the code that connected her to Nihlus’s hard suit data. Nothing. No vitals, no pulse… the Turian had gone dark. But the radio still crackled in her ear. She heard the voice again, this time much clearer. It was most likely checking on Nihlus, making sure he was dead.

“ _It’s done. Set the charges; the beacon is at the research camp.”_

She froze in terror. Nihlus was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this chapter gave me issues. Hope you like it!!  
> More fun stuff coming soon, but we gotta get through Eden Prime first.


	3. Lucas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course Alex is always right; why can't she be right about something easy for once, and not Geth and monsters and bombs? Why can't things be simple?

It took a lot of self control not to embrace Alex in that moment. He hated to see sister hurting; though he was a mere 12 minutes older, he considered her his baby sister—his responsibility. He hated he had to be on this fucking colony in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nightmares. Up until this point, the passive mask of the Commander was in place. She may have been his baby sister, but she’d passed N7 training just like him. _She_ was up for Spectre candidacy. He respected her as a soldier.

But when she got the news over her comm (somehow) that Nihlus was dead, she instantly paled. The blood drained from her already pale face. She was gazing into the middle-distance, and he hated when she got that 1,000-yard stare.

“You OK?” he asked. “Hey, Alex.”

That Lieutenant put a gentle hand on her upper arm, and Luke had to slap down his quick-to-rise anger. It seemed to work, though, as Alex instantly softened and was suddenly Commander Shepard again. Her biotics cascaded against his as she centered.

“Nihlus is dead,” she said frankly. “We need to move; something tells me Eden Prime is about to get a whole lot more interesting.”

“Great,” Luke rolled his eyes. He’d already had enough of this colony.

Alex shot him a withering glare, and he summoned just enough of his pride to not stick his tongue out at her. He fell in line behind Alex, covering her six, while Williams and Alenko guarded her nine and three respectively. He raised his shotgun, dodging potholes and various burned bits he chose to believe were hotdogs (and wouldn’t be convinced otherwise.)

As they crested yet another hill, something moved in the distance. What Luke had thought to be a mountain or other rock formation started to rise. Red lightning circled it, and it let out the most horrible scream—somewhere between an inhuman shriek and a roar.

“My God,” Alenko gasped. “What is it?”

“It’s a ship,” Williams replied, her voice somehow reverent and horrified at the same time. “Look at the _size_ of it!”

“Is that what brought the Geth here?” Alex mused. “Is it their mother ship? I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Luke put a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder, feeling her tremble even through their armor; “We should get moving.”

Alex nodded and gripped her pistol a little tighter. She signaled out a formation, and then led them through a cluster of burned-out modular buildings; the smoke was cloying, and had the smell of burned flesh. He squashed the dark memories—memories of burning corpses, his armor covered in blood, the sounds of screams…

He shook himself, trying to push himself back into the present. He couldn’t stand that Torfan followed him wherever he went. Whenever he turned around, there was a reminder. He was finally dragged out of his recollections by the sharp pop of a pistol; Alex bit off a curse as a bullet bounced off her shields. A man in civilian clothes scrambled out from behind a pile of crates, pointing a shaking pistol at Alex.

“Hey!” Luke stormed forward, his biotics flaring. He grabbed the man’s collar, dragging him up to face him. “You can’t just go shooting anything that moves! That’s what gets people killed!”

“Luke!” Alex was suddenly at his side, her small hand rested against his upper arm. “Luke, it didn’t even breach my shields. I’m fine.”

Luke shoved the man back, but didn’t take his eyes off of him; “Who’re you? What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m one of the workers!” the man answered, lowering the pistol. He was answering Alex; people tended to do that. “My name is Powell. I saw… I saw what killed your friend.”

He pointed behind them with a trembling finger; Alex surged forward with the Lieutenant.

“Commander,” he said in a soft voice, waving his omni-tool over the body. “It’s Nihlus.”

Alex’s face crumpled with grief; “Oh, God.”

Luke rounded on the colonist, gritting his teeth; “What. Happened?”

“I saw… I saw the whole thing! Another turian! He came up and just shot him in the head!”

Williams turned towards Alex; “If he was a Spectre, like you say, he wouldn’t just turn his back on an enemy.”

“He acted like he knew him!” Powell insisted. “Please, you have to believe me!”

“I do,” Alex said gently, approaching him with her hands in an open, non-threatening gesture. Luke admired her ability to talk anyone (including him, sometimes) into doing or saying things they normally wouldn’t do or say. He was typically more of a threaten-them-with-bodily-harm sort of interrogator. “Just tell me everything.”

Powell nodded; everything came out in a jumbled blur; “I saw it. They acted like he knew each other, and your friend there let his guard down. Then the other one _shot him in the head._ I couldn’t… if I hadn’t been hiding back here, he would have found me. Him, or his monsters.”

“Monsters?” Alex tilted her head slightly. “You mean the Geth?”

“Shit, those are Geth?” Powell twitched nervously, shifting from one foot to the other.

“There was a Prothean beacon,” Alex pressed. “I wasn’t at the dig site. What happened to it?”

“Man, all the trouble started with that fucking beacon,” Powell whimpered. “All this wouldn’t have happened—that mother ship, then fucking Geth… they would have found me if I wasn’t hiding back here already!”

“Powell, the beacon!” Alex snapped.

“It must be on the other platform,” Powell answered. “That other turian… Saren. He got on the cargo tram with those… Geth. He must be headed over there.”

Something about what the man said was bothering Luke, but he couldn’t quiet put his finger on it. Thankfully, it appeared the Lieutenant was a little sharper today.

“Wait,” Alenko piped in. “You mean you were hiding _before_ the Geth attacked?”

Powell’s shifting ceased, but he suddenly couldn’t make eye contact; “Sometimes I… need a nap to get through my shift. It’s not a big deal, but I hide back here so my supervisor won’t find me.”

Luke clamped his back teeth together. He narrowed his eyes and thanked his lucky stars above that Ashley had decided to reprimand this man, because he wasn’t sure what he would do. Alex calmly spoke with the man, recording his testimony with her omni-tool, and sending him on his way. Luke _hated_ men like that; most of his time in basic was spent arguing with men like that. Men who thought the world owed them everything just for being alive and doing the barest of minimums.

“Luke,” Alex was at his elbow, her hand on his shoulder. “We need to head to the second platform. If my deductions are correct, we’re going to have explosives on our hands.

~~~

_Why is Alex always right?_

Clamping his tongue between his teeth, he pried the hatch off the first bomb. According to the readings on his omni-tool, there were four charges set; according to the timer on the bomb, he had less than four minutes (assuming they were all set on the same timer.) If there were four of these things, at this size, it was enough explosive to send this whole colony sky high with them on it.

Distantly, he had to admire Alenko and Alex. They hadn’t been working together long, and already they were working in tandem. She would lift a group with her singularity, and he was able to throw them over the edge to splatter on the metal walks below. Williams was covering him, preventing the surrounding Geth from pressing in on them completely. He felt his biotics flicker over his skin—he would be ready.

“I got it,” he exclaimed, flicking the switch that would disarm the thing.

“Perfect,” Alex turned to him. “Only three to go.”

They charged across the catwalk; there was another one on just the other side. Saren must have either picked the spots very precisely; or he didn’t have time to spread them out before he had to flee. He peeled the hatch off once more and set to work.

Thankfully, it was easy to settle into a rhythm. Cross this wire, pull that plug, flick that switch, move on. He was good at tasks like this. Still, sweat started to pool at the back of his neck; he was running out of time. They got to the last one, fewer Geth but way more pressure, with less than 30 seconds.

“Hurry, Luke,” Alex ground out through her teeth.

“You know,” he growled, his hands working quickly. “You telling me to hurry isn’t helping your cause.”

“Just shut up and disarm the bomb!” she screeched, losing her cool for a split second. He smirked—he still had it (even if it was the completely inappropriate time).

The small beep signaling the bomb’s deactivation was like the Hallelujah Chorus in this moment. He blew out a strong breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and put a shaking hand against his forehead.

_That was too close._

“Hey,” Alex was right next to him, her smile sheepish. “Sorry.”

He put his hand over hers and pulled the corner of his lips up in a half-smile. In a brief show of sisterly concern, she pressed her helmet against his; Alenko and Williams were sweeping the platform below. He sighed and straightened, feeling a little tug when his sister pulled away and the mask was once again in place.

“Normandy, the beacon is secure,” Alex said into her comms. “I need a pick up at my coordinates.”

The beacon didn’t seem to be anything special; it was a metal spike with blue lights running up and down its length. It wavered with a sort of greenish energy—it reminded Luke vaguely of a biotic aura—that set his teeth on edge.

“Amazing!” Alenko breathed. “Actual working Prothean technology!”

“Roger, Normandy. Standing by,” Alex flicked off her radio and approached with a smile. “I know, Alenko. It’s something to behold. We can expect the Normandy in five. Any idea why it’s doing… that?”

She gestured imprecisely at the beacon. He assumed she meant the green aura.

Williams pulled her shoulders up in the best shrug she could, given her armor; “It wasn’t doing anything like that when they dug it up. Something must have activated it.”

Alex gave a sharp nod; “Clear the platform for Normandy pick up. All things considered, good work, team.”

“What about me, ma’am?” Williams straightened for Alex, but something about her face spelled… fear. She didn’t want to be left behind.

“Officially, I tell you to go through Alliance command,” Alex approached the young marine, putting a comforting hand on her soldier. “Unofficially, I suggest you come aboard the Normandy and try to contact your CO ASAP.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Williams grinned at Alex.

Luke had to smirk and shake his head; any other officer pulled the crap Alex did they would be out of the Alliance before they could say ‘court-martial’. He covered the stairs leading to the platform; he figured they’d killed most of the Geth (if you could kill something like that) but one never knew. He guessed there wasn’t a bad time when a big, beefy Vanguard could stand at the bottom of a set of stairs—supposing he was on your side.

Alex was observing the beacon, attempting to keep her distance. Little was known about the Prothean beacons, and whatever was on that could change the whole galaxy. It was no wonder Alex was curious—hell, he was curious, and he wasn’t exactly the Science Guy.

But something was wrong.

Alex grunted as her feet seemed to struggle to find purchase on the metal platform. The beacon was glowing violently, that aura curling around her like bonds. It was dragging her forward.

“Shepard!” Alenko shouted, diving for her.

Luke beat him to it. With a bitten off curse, he leapt forward, trying to use his biotics for speed.

_Not fast enough._

She was closer; the sounds coming from her were incoherent, but the terror was obvious. His skin prickled as he got close enough. He closed his arms around her, trying to shield her, but it kept dragging them forward. With all his brute strength, he tossed her to the ground. He had no time to worry if she was hurt, or if she was out of the way, because now that energy was curling around him.

His biotics flared; a static-like sensation crawled over his skin. An icy shard settled in the pit of his stomach, and he lost control over his muscles. He felt himself be dragged into the air, floating about a foot or so off the ground. Pain curled along his amp, shooting through his head to the back of his eyes. His breath came hard; it felt like his heart had stopped beating. And all through the agonizing pain came images.

Images of horror and violence and death. He saw blood and fire; millions of people left dying or dead. He distantly heard Alex screaming, but the pain almost shut her out. He begged for death, for a release. Anything to stop the barrage of images, anything to put an end to the pain and terror. He tried to fight, but his muscles had gone rigid.

Finally, with an explosion, it was over. A metal shard of the beacon whizzed forward and sliced his cheek. He landed hard on his back, and Alex was over him. Her tears were flowing freely; she was shouting something, but he couldn’t tell what. It was like his ears were stuffed full of cotton. All he wanted to do was sleep.

With one deep, agonizingly painful breath, he felt the darkness close in.


	4. Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex is having trouble being the Commander when her brother lies comatose in med bay. Thankfully, her crew is... supportive.

Alexandra Shepard had been immobilized by fear precisely three times in her life at this point.

The first was when she was a very young girl and she was facing down the grim prospect of facing a _very_ big spider. The second was when she was on Elysium and a whole platoon of Batarian pirates was amassing on the colony. The third was on Eden Prime when her twin brother got swept off his feet by a Prothean beacon.

She distantly felt the shriek tear out of her chest—it was a broken sound. Luke’s limbs had gone rigid and his mouth was contorted in a silent scream. Kaidan had her crushed against his chest; but she fought.

“No, Commander!” he shouted. “It’s too dangerous!”

It felt like hours she sat and watched her brother twitch, but it was probably only seconds. The beacon exploded in a cloud of energy and shrapnel, and Luke was thrown to the platform. Kaidan finally released her, and she scrambled forward.

“Luke?” His eyes were open but distant and clouded. His breath was thready at best. “Luke! It’s ok! You’re going to be OK!”

Luke took a deep breath and his eyes slid closed. Alex felt herself draw in; the mask of the Commander slid into place. She wanted to shake him, yank off his helmet…”

Luke took a deep breath and his eyes slid closed. Alex felt herself draw in; the mask of the Commander slid into place. She wanted to shake him, yank off his helmet… _anything._ But she knew he probably had a head injury, at best, and Ashley and Kaidan were looking to her to lead. She couldn’t afford to come apart now.

The Normandy swooped in, and the extraction team rushed out onto the platform. Anderson was right behind, balking at the sight of Alex bent over Luke’s prone form.

“Get Doctor Chakwas,” Alex ordered, forgetting for half a moment Anderson was her Superior Officer. “ _Now!”_

Anderson murmured something in his radio—as small as the Normandy was the good doctor would be out in almost no time. The older man scrambled out towards the twins, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“Shepard!” he exclaimed.”What happened?”

“You’ll have the long version in my report,” Alex answered. “Short version—Geth, explosives, Prothean beacon exploded, sir.”

Anderson rolled his eyes; “Your brother is rubbing off on you, Shepard, and not in a good way.”

“With all due respect, sir, I’m a bit more concerned making sure one of my teammates makes it through this mission.”

Anderson nodded; Chakwas descended upon her potential patient with her field kit and an evac team within no time. She shone a tiny, old-fashioned pen light into his eyes; “Pupils are uniform and responsive, no evidence of hemorrhage. Take him to the lab.”

The two marines carrying the stretcher elbowed Alex out of the way (one shot her an apologetic grimace when he saw her Commander’s star) and carried her brother away. The extraction team took the shattered remains of the beacon away for study; another team was being sent out to recover Nihlus’s body and any evidence of the attack they could find.

Anderson approached, his stance formal but his expression passive and—dare she say—sympathetic; “Shepard, we’ll need to go to the Citadel. We’ll be there in about 36 hours and I _will_ need your full report before then. But for now, I think you’ve had a rough day. Dismissed.”

Alex gave him a grateful nod, nodding towards the Normandy for Alenko and Williams. All she wanted to do was collapse in her bed, but she had other duties to attend to. Mainly, checking on Chakwas.

The Normandy’s med lab was tiny, but Karin Chakwas was one of the best military doctors in the business. One of the advantages of an experimental ship was top of the line equipment to go with your best-and-brightest team. In her head, Alex knew her brother was in the best care available outside of Earth itself or the Citadel.

In her heart, though, she feared for her brother’s life.

She’d never seen a reaction like that before to any sort of technology, let alone an untested one. The only time she’d seen anything even remotely similar was a young man who’d suffered from a seizure. Chakwas was still fussing over him, muttering to herself while she ran the sort of tests that made sense to her but scared the living daylights out of Alex.

So the Commander fetched her data pad, sat in medbay, and filled out her report.

It was shockingly difficult to relive the events, especially knowing Nihlus was reposed right down on the engineering deck. She felt bad for the workers down there. She tried to be as thorough as possible while still maintaining distance. She couldn’t talk about the horrors of the Husks’ sightless eyes, or the uncanny shiver that ran down her spine at the Geth’s speech. She shuddered, and had to pause when she had to detail how the beacon got destroyed.

She turned her attention to the paltry evidence they had on Saren. They’d loaded all of Nihlus’s hard suit data right to her omni-tool. He’d been recording all of the events of Eden Prime, as he had been there to observe Alex. She scrubbed through the video three or four times, and each time she learned nothing new. She could vaguely make out the shape of an adult male turian, but something was interfering with their suits’ electronic recording systems. Also, Saren had stepped behind Nihlus to shoot him. If she knew the Citadel council, she would need more than this.

“How is he?”

Alex cursed herself for jumping—so much for being the greatest warrior in the galaxy.

“Kai—Lieutenant,” she corrected herself with a wary look at the good doctor. “I’m not sure. Dr. Chakwas is being incredibly cryptic right now.”

“With all due respect, Commander, it’s because I dislike distractions,” Chakwas called from her corner. “I promise I will fetch you when the Second Lieutenant is awake.”

“But—.”

“Doctor’s orders, I’m afraid,” Chakwas quirked a brow at Alex; it was a look that she knew well. “Alexandra, I promise, Lucas is in the best of care.”

“Thank you… Karin,” Alex answered. She gathered her data pad to her chest and rose from her chair. She felt her joints pop painfully—those chairs were just the worst.

“Come on, you need something to eat,” Kaidan jerked his head towards the mess.

Alex huffed out a light laugh; “How’d you know?”

“Well, I’m starving, and our biotics are pretty well even, I would say,” Kaidan smirked at her.

She opened her mouth to protest and closed it again with a click of her teeth. He wasn’t exactly _wrong._ She rolled her eyes and followed him in silence; he seemed to sense she wanted to talk. But Alex would always be Alex, and if there was one thing she couldn’t do, it was confide in her officers.

Especially ones she thought were cute.

Kaidan pulled a pair of standard-issue MREs out of the crate; “Looks like beef-flavored food product with potatoes and something that resembles green vegetables.”

Alex snorted and grabbed the offered packet; they hadn’t expected an extended stay, so all they really had were emergency supplies. They prepped their food, but Alex wasn’t too interested in the offerings on her plate. Her mind was elsewhere, and her heart was currently doing what appeared to be a samba in her chest. She couldn’t help but sneak looks at Kaidan’s hands fidgeting with his fork. She resisted the urge to bite her lip, and pressed her thighs together.

_He is your subordinate! Get your head in the game, Commander!_

Alex firmly wished she could slap some duct tape on her inner voice—always the voice of reason.

“So,” Kaidan began, his voice easy but his posture tense. “Do you know Dr. Chakwas?”

“Sort of,” Alex answered honestly. She took a more relaxed posture, and felt a little thrill when he mimicked her. Their shoulders touched a little—a comforting gesture—and it made everything sit right for just a moment. “I’ve never served with Dr. Chakwas, but I’ve known Karin literally my whole life.”

“How so?” he asked. His voice was _doing_ things to her.

“She was the overseeing physician when Luke and I were born.”

Kaidan huffed out an easy laugh; “That’s quite the coincidence.”

“Not really,” Alex countered, though the atmosphere seemed to ease slightly. “Karin is one of the best, and Anderson asked for both me and Luke by name. I’m sure he was just looking for the best. Speaks highly of you, Kaidan.”

An attractive flush colored his olive-toned cheekbones; “Erm… thank you, ma’am.”

“We’re off duty, Kaidan,” she said softly. “It’s Alex.”

“Right, sorry,” he grinned at her, the expression almost boyish. He placed a big, callused hand on top of hers, squeezing gently. “Luke will be fine. I’m sure of it.”

“I hope so…” Alex sighed.

For now, she wouldn’t be Commander Shepard, but simply Alex—the girl who worried for her brother and enjoyed the feeling of human contact, no matter how fleeting.


End file.
